


Friendship, Yay!

by Zetal (Rodinia)



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Friendship, M/M, lots of talk about JJ LeRoy, proto-Otayuri, these boys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-22
Updated: 2018-07-22
Packaged: 2019-06-07 12:45:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15219431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rodinia/pseuds/Zetal
Summary: Leo finds Otabek after arriving in Gangneung for Four Continents 2017.  They hang out and catch up and Leo insists on teasing Otabek about his new "best friend".





	Friendship, Yay!

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lady_Ganesh](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Ganesh/gifts).



“Hey! Beka!”

Otabek turned at the voice. “Hi, Leo. Good to see you again.” It was, too, but Otabek had also been dreading it. Leo had been like a brother when they trained together, and though they’d drifted apart as Otabek moved back to Kazakhstan and started focusing so hard on skating that he ignored his social media, Leo still claimed the brother’s prerogative to tease him.

“You too. Congrats on making finals, even if JJ did steal your medal.”

This again? Still? “He didn’t steal…”

Leo folded his arms. “Yes, he did, everyone knows it including JJ. That short program was way overscored.”

“Maybe, but that doesn’t mean he stole my medal. I could have done better.” Of course JJ was overscored – he was a well-known star and a crowd favorite. Otabek, not so much. It wasn’t fair, but he’d overcome worse.

“Whatever.” Leo nudged him. “So come on, how much truth is there to the rumor?”

And here it came. The reason Otabek hadn’t gone looking for Leo earlier. “What rumor?”

“You know what rumor!” Leo grinned and shoved his hands in his jacket pocket. “The ones about you and Plisetsky, dude! I know you’re not planning on running off to Moscow in the off-season to get married, but you can’t deny there’s something there. At least, not and have me believe you.”

Right. Those rumors. “There is something there. We’re best friends. That’s not even a rumor, we’ve both said it in interviews. Why the questions?”

“Well, let’s see, you only properly met him two months ago and you’re already calling each other best friends. I don’t know Yuri, but Guang Hong does, and Guang Hong’s never heard of Yuri calling anyone a friend, let alone a best friend. And you… you’d been living with my family for three months before you decided we were friends, and JJ…” Leo trailed off, shaking his head with a huge grin. “Okay, that one’s not entirely fair, JJ spent the first month we all knew each other being so annoying that he deserved it taking three more months of hanging out on social media for us to get over and be real friends.”

“Guang Hong says, huh?” That rumor was true, or at least, the two of them were playing along on social media very thoroughly.

“Yep. You know he’s been coming to America or Canada to train in the offseason anyway? It didn’t take much convincing for him to come to Chicago to train with me this summer.”

“Cool. So, obviously that happened, when?”

Leo beamed. “After the Cup of China. To cheer me up after I did so badly, Guang Hong took me to his room and we watched the entire Shanghai Blade series, and he told me that when he was skating his free skate, he was thinking of me in the role of the ally he dives in front of a bullet for, and, well, I couldn’t not kiss him at that point.”

“No, I can see that.” Lucky bastard. That was the kind of story that the grandkids would swoon over. 

Otabek was about to try to change the subject, ask about Leo’s siblings or something, when he saw Leo’s eyes go wide with shock. The only other warning he got was the sound of footsteps behind him, and then someone was jumping on him from behind.

“Beka! Surprise!”

“Oof.” It wasn’t that Yuri was at all heavy, just the surprise. Yuri must have been moving fast. “Hi, Yura, what are you even doing here?”

“I was working on the pitch to Yakov, focused mostly on if he didn’t let me come he’d have to deal with me complaining about it all week, when Yakov asked if I wanted to go. Not being a complete moron, I said yes, and here I am!”

“Huh. I’d have thought you’d enjoy having the week of not having to deal with the gross lovebirds at the rink.”

“I still don’t have to deal with them much.” Yuri hopped down and made a face. “Viktor kept making ridiculous jokes about not getting kidnapped again. So… don’t do that again? Because I’m not sure how much he was joking. It is Viktor.”

“Wait, Beka kidnapped you?” Leo said, feigning shock. “Beka, I can’t believe it! That’s so not proper hero behavior.”

Otabek smothered the urge to throttle his friend. “Quit being an idiot. I know you saw the social media uproar. I did not kidnap him, I just made a friend.” He reached out and put an arm around Yuri’s shoulders. “Yura, this is Leo de la Iglesia, you’ve probably seen him skate. One of the few out there who can rival Katsuki for sheer musicality. The year I was in America, he and I were rinkmates. Leo, you’re just flat-out lying if you say you’ve never seen Yuri skate. He’s my best friend. Be nice.”

Leo raised an eyebrow as he reached out to shake hands with Yuri. “Best friends. Right. That’s what the kids call it in Kazakhstan and Russia?”

“Yes?” Yuri looked up at Otabek. “What do they call it in America?”

“They call it shut your mouth and quit making things weird, Leo, or I might have to explain to Guang Hong why your face has been rearranged.”

Leo burst into laughter. “Okay, that’s it, you and Yuri are coming to dinner with me and Guang Hong, this is too much fun.”

The confusion left Yuri’s face, replaced by a slight scowl. “Does Guang Hong know about this? Because last time we skated against each other, he avoided me. Even on the podium and during press conferences, he stayed as far away from me as he could.”

“Are you inviting JJ and Isabella?” Otabek asked. That would be a dealbreaker for Yuri, which would in turn mean Otabek wasn’t going to go.

“Are you kidding me?” Leo said. “I saw what happens when they’re at the same competition, and I’m not buying JJ’s talk that Yuri’s just playing a role for the cameras. Nah, I’ll be catching up with them some other time. You’d be welcome, but I’m really not expecting you to come.”

“Okay, so what about Guang Hong?” Yuri asked.

“What about me?” Guang Hong tucked himself under Leo’s arm and stretched up to kiss his cheek. “Hi Otabek.”

“Yuri thinks you’re too scared of him to go out to dinner with us. Is he right?” Leo said.

“No, I think it sounds like fun. Let’s go!”

 

They agreed to meet at a nearby restaurant that Seung Gil had recommended through Phichit, where they could get a private room. “Since when aren’t you scared of me?” Yuri asked Guang Hong after they had ordered.

“I don’t know. Being in seniors, dealing with the pressure to be China’s best hope since Cao Bin retired, getting involved with Leo, you making friends with Otabek… you don’t seem as scary since you have a friend, and I’m stronger, I guess. Maybe I just absorbed some fearlessness from my free skate!”

“Heh. Fair enough, I guess. Shanghai Blade, right? I love those movies.”

“Really? Wow! Which one’s your favorite?”

Leo smiled fondly as Yuri and Guang Hong got lost in debating the relative merits of the movie series. “And we’ve lost those two for a while. Have you seen any of the movies?”

“Yeah… Yuri and I do movie night with his rinkmates once a week, and Mila picked Shanghai Blade for the second one. Not my thing, really, I prefer sci-fi, but watching Mila and Yuri enjoy themselves so much made it worth it.”

“Heh. You’re getting invited to Yuri’s stuff with his rinkmates?”

“Just this. And I’m going up there for a couple weeks in the off-season for a clinic Yakov’s hosting, but that doesn’t really count.” Leo’s face lit up with glee. “Oh no. What?”

“Dude. You cannot make me believe there isn’t something here! How many times did I hear you say you were never going near anything hosted by Yakov Feltsman again, after the embarrassment of the last time you went to one of his camps?” Leo punched Otabek’s shoulder. “You’re going for Yuri and you know it and if that’s not…”

“It was embarrassing, but clearly, I’ve gotten over that,” Otabek said. “Really, it was one of the best things to ever happen to me, although I didn’t realize that at the time.”

“Yeah, you met your boyfriend there, it just took a few years.”

Otabek glanced over at Yuri. He wasn’t showing any signs of having heard Leo, necessarily. That light blush could mean anything. It could just be the excitement of a new friend to bond with over stupid movies. “I didn’t mean meeting Yuri there and you know it. What I meant was that I knew I had a lot of work to do to get good enough to compete for medals, but that camp showed me just how much work I had to do, and that I couldn’t follow the conventional Russian path. You were there, you know how homesick I was those first few months, you were the one who talked me out of quitting and going home that first New Year’s I spent on Skype instead of actually there with my family. If I’d still thought Russian skating was an option, I’d have gone to Russia instead of Canada that spring, and wasted at least a year, maybe more. I’d be here at Four Continents, but I don’t think I’d be mentioned as a dark horse medal contender…”

“What’s up with that, anyway? You won bronze at Worlds last year, fourth at the Finals this year, why are you a dark horse?”

“Because I’m not from America or Canada or Russia, I don’t have decades of history behind me. I’m an upstart. There’s also that I don’t skate like most people, so a lot of people – judges included – don’t like it. It’s gonna take a while for me to shed the dark horse label and just be one of the top skaters like Viktor or Yuri.”

“Which is absolute bullshit,” Yuri snarled. “You’re a great skater, and deserve to be recognized as one of the top skaters.”

“Agreed!” Leo said. “I know I’m not likely to get taken seriously as a medal threat here or at Worlds unless I start doing some quads like everyone else, but I’m okay with that.”

“Why don’t you?” Yuri asked.

“Everyone choreographs to their strengths and to minimize their weaknesses. For me, that’s the jumps – I don’t have the power for the big jumps unless I sacrifice something somewhere else, so I stick with what I can do while still choreographing at the level I want to skate at there. I’m working on it. Couple years, maybe, you’ll see me doing some quads.”

“Good. Much rather share a podium with you than some Canadian douchebag.”

Leo put a hand to his mouth, hiding the laughter. “You know, away from competition, JJ’s a perfectly nice guy. Me and him and Beka used to be good friends.”

“I’ve heard Beka talking about training with him in Canada, but all the shit I deal with from him during competitions, not sure I want to take the chance. Besides, what’s that got to do with podiums? If we’re on a podium, we’re at a competition, where JJ is a douchebag.”

Otabek couldn’t help the snort. “He’s got you there, Leo.”

“Yeah, okay, that’s fair enough. Maybe sometime this summer we can get together for one of JJ’s charity events, and you can see what he’s like there?”

“Viktor’s already talking about doing another show in Hasestu, at the Ice Castle. Only this time not a competition, just him and some of his favorite skaters getting together to have fun on the ice. He’s probably going to invite JJ.”

Otabek’s eyebrows shot up. “Since when does Viktor like JJ?”

“He doesn’t, but especially if JJ medals here, there’s no way to not invite him without it becoming a publicity issue, and you know Viktor. He’ll put up with a lot if it means the press and his fans love him that much more.”

“And since it’s not a competition, you’ll get a chance to see what JJ’s like!” Guang Hong clapped. “I haven’t met him yet, so let me know?”

“Depending on just how big he’s thinking, you might be invited,” Yuri said. “I know he’s planning on inviting Beka and Katsudon will make him sleep on the couch if he doesn’t invite Phichit, which puts Leo pretty high on the list of friends of friends. And, well, again, it’s Viktor. Small is not something he understands.”

“That would be nice,” Leo said. “Heck, I might go even if I’m not skating, just to hang out with Phichit and Beka and JJ. You could come with me!”

“Yeah! I wonder if they’re going to invite Kenjirou? He’s said he’s spent a lot of time in Hasetsu since he and Yuuri competed against each other back in September, it’d be nice to hang out with him again.”

“Kenji… oh, Minami,” Yuri said. “Isn’t he here? I know Katsudon was excited about him finishing third in nationals again.”

“Yeah, he’s here, we’re gonna hang out later this week. I bet if you and Otabek want to hang out with us, he wouldn’t have a problem with that.”

“Why would you want us to?”

“Well, Otabek and Leo are friends, and you’re my friend now…”

“I am? Huh?”

Guang Hong grinned. “Anyone who likes Shanghai Blade that much is my friend. Sorry, I don’t make the rules.”

“He’s right, you know,” Leo teased. “Just enjoy having more than one friend, dude. It’ll be good for you.”

“Whatever. Fine. If Minami’s okay with it, I don’t mind.”

Leo nudged Otabek’s foot with his. “Maybe if Yuri makes other friends, he’ll realize you’re different,” he whispered.

“Dammit, Leo, would you quit being such a dick?” Otabek hissed back. “I’m happy with how things are, so quit making it weird.”

“Fine, whatever, now that those two are friends you can’t start ignoring me like you do JJ, so I’ll behave.”

“It’s not because of Yura.” Leo just glared, so Otabek amended to, “Not just because of Yura. He was pissed at me when I told him I was going back to Kazakhstan instead of staying in Canada. We got into a huge fight, I may have said some things but so did he, and I’d always said that I wanted to make it home one day. That day came earlier than I’d ever dared hope it would, and instead of being happy for me, JJ made it about him. If he wants to be friends still, he can apologize for being a dick about me achieving a huge goal for myself.”

“Oh, wow,” Leo said. “I didn’t… neither of you said anything about that. That’s why you shut him out at the Finals?”

“That’s why. Don’t worry about it. I’m not going to let it affect my friendship with you – that really was just focusing everything on making sure I was ready for this season, things will be getting back to normal after Worlds. If JJ and I make up, we make up, if not, well, friends drift apart. It happens.”

“Give him a chance, huh? This summer?”

“Probably. We’ll see. Especially if you come, I don’t want to interfere in your friendship with him, so I’ll play nice. If Yura can, I can.”

“Good. You and me and JJ, we’re bros. I’d hate to see that change, just because we’re making new friends.”

“Same here.” Otabek cleared his throat and met Yuri and Guang Hong’s curious stares. “Sorry about that. Leo’s being a moron and I needed to tell him off for it.”

Leo stuck his tongue out at Otabek. “Yeah, I love you too, jerk.”


End file.
